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The Wedding Dress Game That Cost Him His Bride
Novelix
new
Completed
"My fiancé paid our wedding guests to rip off my dress because his “girl bro” thought it would be fun. I begged him to stop. He told me not to spoil the game. Then he dumped my parents’ ashes into a fish tank. I left the country. He planned another wedding, certain I’d come back. When the bride lifted her veil, he finally realized I meant it. Now he’s begging for another chance, while his precious “bro” sends me the messages proving he approved the whole thing. They’re turning on each other, and he still thinks I’ll forgive him. He can keep waiting."
Chapters (3)
第1章
Lenora’s POV
“This wedding’s boring. Let’s rip up her dress.”
At our wedding, my fiancé’s “girl bro,” Tatum Blake, suggests a game called “Rip the Dress.”
“Everyone gets to rip a piece off the bride’s dress! Name your price, and the groom has to buy it back!”
“Then we’ll sew all those good wishes into a brand-new wedding dress!”
Tatum yanks off one of my straps, nearly exposing my breast.
“Like this! Five grand!”
Callum gives her a fond smile and takes the strip of tulle from her.
She winks, then puts his payment confirmation up on the big screen.
“Tatum, you’re a fucking genius!”
“Come on, man! If you love her, pay up!”
Callum’s friends join in, egging each other on.
I clench my fists, about to tell them no, but Callum cuts me off in a low voice.
“She’s just having fun. Don’t spoil it.”
I stare at him.
Tatum once stuffed a balloon under her shirt and pretended she was pregnant. She tricked me into listening for a heartbeat through my stethoscope, then popped it.
My hearing has been cutting out ever since.
He thought that was funny.
The night of our engagement party, she deliberately left me drunk on the street.
He thought that was funny, too.
As far as Callum’s concerned, everything Tatum does is funny.
People grab at my skirt, fighting to tear off pieces.
Someone waves a strip of fabric overhead. “Come on! Thirty grand!”
“Send that money and the wedding’s off.”
Callum frowns. “They’re here to celebrate with us, baby. Don’t ruin it.”
“Seriously,” Tatum says with a pout. “You’re no fun.”
A moment later, the guest holds up his phone, showing off the thirty thousand dollars Callum has just sent him.
Everyone’s shouting, but I suddenly feel strangely calm.
She’s right. There’s nothing fun about this.
...
“All right! Game on!”
At Tatum’s announcement, the crowd surges toward me.
I snatch up the microphone.
“Don’t touch me! The wedding’s off!”
Nothing comes through the speakers, and my voice disappears beneath the cheering.
I look at Callum, stunned. He turned it off.
He smiles as if he’s been expecting this, then steps back with Tatum tucked safely behind him.
Hands reach for me from every direction, and he lets them tear at my dress.
My ears start ringing.
Yesterday, Tatum sent my family and friends to a deserted island, telling them the wedding rehearsal would be there.
There’s no one here to help me, all because she thought that would be fun.
Riiip!
Another huge piece of my skirt tears away.
I stumble backward.
“Stop! The wedding’s off, and I’m calling the cops!”
For a moment, everyone goes quiet. Even the guest who just tore a piece off my dress freezes.
“She’s kidding!” Tatum calls, hanging off Callum with an arm around his neck.
“Who ripped that piece? Come get your money!”
She waves them over. And Callum just keeps smiling at her like she can do no wrong.
The guest approaches hesitantly, then grins at his phone when the payment comes through.
The others rush me again, shouting.
I have nowhere left to go, and no one can hear me over them.
Hands grope me as more and more of my dress is torn away.
“CALLUM!”
I scream his name, wrapping my arms around myself as I curl into a ball.
Through a gap in the crowd, I see him glance at the pile of fabric beside him. His smile finally fades.
“Enough!”
They keep grabbing.
“I said enough!”
They pull away reluctantly. Even the underskirt beneath my gown is mostly shredded.
“Those women grabbed all the good pieces, but hey, at least I got to cop a feel.”
“No kidding, her skin’s so fucking soft and smooth. Rich bastard’s got it made.”
“Shut the fuck up!”
Callum pulls off his jacket, his expression darkening at the red marks on my arms and legs.
“I told you guys not to get carried away!”
The guests shift uneasily, glancing at one another.
Tatum suddenly sneezes. “Jesus, it’s freezing in here.”
Callum pauses, then turns and drapes his jacket over her shoulders instead.
I shiver, goose bumps rising along my bare arms.
“Dude, don’t get weird on me. Since when do you treat me like a girl?”
Tatum starts to shrug it off.
He holds it in place. “Just keep it on.”
She snorts. “Fine. Guess you’re good for something.”
I take a deep breath, pull down a nearby curtain, and wrap it around myself as I stand.
Callum catches my arm.
“Where are you going? The wedding’s not over.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “You really think we’re still getting married?”
He holds my gaze for a few seconds, then lets go with a smile.
“Right. It’ll take a while to put the dress back together. Go get some rest in your room.”
There’s so much I want to say, but in the end, all that comes out is this.
“Callum, we’re done.”
第2章
Lenora’s POV
Callum opens his mouth, but before he can say anything, Tatum calls out.
“Cal, come help me with this mess! I have no idea what I’m doing!”
She stands on the scraps of my dress, scratching her head.
He laughs and shakes his head. “And you think I do?”
The jacket around her shoulders came from the same independent designer as my wedding dress.
The designer had already retired. All I’d done was say I liked their work.
Callum flew overseas more than a dozen times, asking until they finally agreed to make my gown and his suit.
When the dress arrived, he was even more careful with it than I was. He said we should keep it as a family heirloom.
It hasn’t even made it through the wedding.
Callum and Tatum crouch beside the pile to talk, and she picks up a scrap of tulle and drapes it over his head.
Then she ducks underneath it with him until their noses touch.
For a second, he just stares at her.
“Aw, what’s wrong? Am I making you nervous?”
“Don’t be gross.” He laughs and pulls the fabric off.
She shoves him onto his back, straddles him, and starts tickling him.
“You think I’m gross? You’re gonna pay for that!”
They roll around together while the guests settle back into their seats, talking loudly enough for me to hear.
“Rich people are fucking weird. Hiring extras to play wedding guests, just for a laugh?”
“Wait, it’s fake? The bride seems pretty serious.”
“She’s the only one who is. See any of her family or friends here?”
“The groom’s parents are actors, too. They just got better parts than the rest of us.”
“What the hell did she do to deserve that? They practically turned this into a porno.”
I shut the door on the whole sickening scene.
Back in my room, I start taking off my makeup and realize my face is wet with tears.
Tatum has already rolled around on our wedding bed, posing for pictures. I don’t even want to sit on it.
I change into my regular clothes and take off my ring.
I wasn’t supposed to leave for my research fellowship in London until after the wedding. Once I’ve moved up my departure, I can finally breathe.
But I still can’t reach a single one of my family or friends.
A hurricane warning pops up on my phone, and my stomach tightens.
I call the police, then head out for the nearest marina.
The elevator opens, and Callum and Tatum are standing inside.
He frowns.
“Tatum was right. You’re actually gonna throw a fit and walk out.”
Tatum scoffs. “God, women are such a pain.”
Callum catches my wrist. “Let her explain.”
Tatum shrugs. “If you’re still mad about Cal being late to get your marriage license, you clearly don’t trust him.”
“He was nervous the night before. We watched some porn to help him relax.”
“We’re bros, so what if we got each other off all night? Quit making it weird.”
I say nothing, and she starts getting impatient.
“I only filmed it so he’d know what it looks like when a girl isn’t faking it. I was doing you a favor for your wedding night.”
“I wasn’t gonna show it to you. Guess Cal thought you could learn a thing or two.”
As it sinks in, I yank my hand away, sick to my stomach.
So that’s why he was exhausted the next morning and missed our appointment to get the marriage license.
And out of all the times they could have told me, they choose now?
I scrub at the skin he touched until it turns red.
His face darkens.
“Callum, there’s a hurricane coming. Where are my family and friends?”
He hesitates, then glances at Tatum. “I sent boats over.”
“A bunch of people rowing back across the water?” Tatum says. “Sounds pretty fun to me.”
Her phone vibrates, and she glances down at it.
“Oh, there’s a hurricane? Guess they’d better be careful.”
第3章
Lenora’s POV
Panic hits, and I push past them, knocking Tatum off balance.
I’ve barely stepped into the elevator when Callum yanks me back out.
“Apologize to her.”
His grip tightens as he points to her perfectly uninjured arm.
I choke back a cry, cold sweat breaking out across my forehead.
He pauses, follows my gaze, and finally looks at my hand.
Someone stepped on it in the scramble for my dress. Now his yank has pulled my already injured wrist out of place, and my hand hangs at an unnatural angle.
His breath catches. “I didn’t mean to...”
“Callum, what’s the one thing a surgeon can’t afford to lose?”
He says nothing, his lips going pale.
Once, a patient’s relative came at me with a knife. Callum stepped in front of me and took the blade for me.
“As long as you’re okay,” he told me. “We’ve gotta protect those hands.”
After we got together, he did all the housework. If there was anything he could do for me, he wouldn’t let me lift a finger.
He was always telling me how precious a surgeon’s hands were, how careful I had to be with them.
“I’m gonna spend the rest of my life treating you this well, Nora. You’ll never wanna leave me.”
I believed him, right up until Tatum came back to the States three months ago.
Since then, nothing in my life has been the same.
“Forget it,” Tatum says, waving a hand. “I’m not that fragile, so I’m gonna let that slide.”
I turn and get into the elevator. They follow me in.
“Your dress is fixed,” Callum says. “Let’s finish the ceremony before we go get them.”
“It’s not like your parents are there, anyway.”
My parents died in a car accident the year I met him.
“Callum, you only treat me like this because my parents are dead.”
He drops his gaze without answering, cancels the parking level, and presses the button for the ballroom floor.
I press the parking button again.
“You and Tatum let a bunch of hired extras grope me, and you still think I’m gonna marry you?”
His head snaps up.
“You know they’re extras? Who told you?”
He meets my eyes, then closes his own with a sigh.
“My family refused to come. I just didn’t want you to be disappointed.”
Tatum claps him on the shoulder. “He practically cut off his family for you, you know.”
For a long moment, I don’t know what to say.
No one thought we’d make it this far. Even I had doubts, and I can’t pretend Callum didn’t fight for us.
I turned him down twice before I finally accepted his ring.
It was the first time I’d heard his voice break.
“You’re stuck with me now, Nora.”
He didn’t let go of my hand for the rest of that day.
“Callum, send someone to bring my family and friends back safely.”
Then maybe I can think about forgiving you.
“No way. Cal and I have a bet going.”
Tatum leans against his shoulder, glaring at me.
“If they row back on their own, I win. If they call for help, he wins.”
“You can’t tell him to send help before they ask. That’s cheating, and it ruins the whole thing.”
“Learn to play along. Same with the dress: Cal’s the one paying, so what did you even lose?”
She keeps grumbling.
“Calling it groping, seriously? I thought you could take a joke, unlike the girl before you.”
“If you knew Cal and I spent the other night cuddling naked to see who could go the longest without making a move...”
“Enough, Tatum.”
She huffs but shuts up.
“Tatum knows her limits,” Callum says, looking away from me. “Have a little faith in your family.”
Whatever hope I still have that he’ll help them is gone.
